HomeMy WebLinkAboutREP FC 126 2020/07/07 2018-2020 PORT OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE
DATE: July 7, 2020 Re: Comm. No. 988/Bill No. 178
PLACE: Council Chambers
Hilo, Hawaii
TIME: 9:05 a.m.
Council Chair and Members
Hawaii County Council
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred Bill No. 178, reports as follows:
Bill No. 178, transmitted by Council Member Valerie Poindexter, via Communication No. 988
dated June 18, 2020, amends Chapter 19, Article 8, Section 19-59, of the Hawaii County Code 1983
(2016 Edition, as amended), relating to native forest dedications.
This bill creates three native forest categories (native forests, functional forests, and successional forests),
and establishes a dedication process for forest preservation and restoration.
A motion to move Bill 178 to Council with a positive recommendation was made by Council Member
Poindexter, seconded by Council Member Richards.
Council Member Poindexter shared how Ms. Leslie Cole-Brooks, an attorney specializing in
environmental law connected with the County of Hawaii, and who spent over a year collaborating with
the Real Property Tax office and various landowners and native forest experts whose goal is to preserve
native forests here on Hawaii Island, in order to propose this legislation to establish native forest
categories and implement a dedication process for the preservation and restoration of our native forests.
Ms. Cole-Brooks and Ms. Lisa Miura, Real Property Tax Administrator addressed Your Committee on
its goal, efforts and the opportunity for the County of Hawaii to make a small investment of$12,000 in
reduced real property tax revenues, which will in turn create an extreme increase for the betterment of
our island, state and world through the revitalization and preservation of our native forests. They also
noted that there is no income generation for these landowners nor any significant savings in real
property tax(dependent on location of property), but truly a labor of love for our native forests.
Council Members collectively noted the excellence in the presented legislation, how it encourages the
behavior of the protection of our forests, and the opportunity it presents for future projects island wide.
Your Committee on Finance is in accord with the purpose and intent of Bill 178, and recommends its
passage on first reading.
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AYES NOES ABS EK Respectfully submitted,
CHUNG X
DAVID x COMMITTEE ON FINANCE
EOFF X
KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER X
KIERKIEwICZ X
LEE LOY X
POINDEXTER X MAIZE MED AVID, CHAIR
RICHARDS X FC REPORT NO.: 126
VILLEGAS X ADOPTED: JUL 2 2 2020